Static dry mechanism for a clothes dryer



April 26, 1960 A. w. KRUZAN ET 2,933,933

STATIC DRY MECHANISM FOR A CLOTHES DRYER Filed Aug. 18, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l fnz/enz onsv Qlfieri' Z1 [1' 7-71, 30.72 354.5561 B J/uzzu a Z'dwgd Valz'ies aw we n April 26, 1960 A. w. KRUZAN ETAI- STATIC DRY MECHANISM FOR A CLOTHES DRYER Filed Aug. 18, 1958 2 Sheets-$heet 2 azz guise! D. Jfiaw 4* Ida/42rd 14121265 45/ a! 71 01, 4%.

2,933,933 STATIC DRY MECHANISM FOR A crorn'ns DRYER Application August 18, 1958, Serial No. 755,577

3 Claims. (Cl. 74-206) This invention relates, in general, to laundry apparatus, and has particular reference to amechanical control means manually operable by the user for selectively stopping the rotation of the clothes dryer cylinder in order to afford drying .of fabrics by maintaining the cylinder stationary or tumbling the fabrics by permitting the cylinder to revolve.

The present invention relates to a dryer of the character disclosed in,U.S. Patent No. 2,798,304 and more particularly to an improved means for optionally maintaining the cylinder stationary during the drying operation. a

" It is well known that certain fabrics are not conducive totumbling in the conventional revolving cylindertype dryerL' Moreover, certain fabrics cannot withstand the high temperatures normally employed in conventional dryers of this general class. Furthermore, in order-t facilitate the drying of fabrics and particularly fabrics which have been Washed by a conventional washing :machine or by hand, it is desirable'not only to removethe surplus water from the fabrics, but it is also desirable to further dry the clothes by circulatingair thereover and therethrough, where the air so circulated may be warmed by a heater or may be of room temperature.

v Accordingly, an important object and accomplishment ofthe present invention -isto provide means including a selector whereby the user may, at his election pass heated air or air of room temperature throughthe dryer.

A-furth'er important object and accomplishment 'ofthe invention is to provide a clothes dryer of the type hereinbefore described and having incorporated therein means whereby the user may selectively rotate the drum to tumble the clothes or cause said drum to be held stationary to etfect a so-called static drying, with a further choice of passing heated air on through the cylinder.

In connection with the above, another important object and accomplishment of the invention is to provide a dryer having incorporated therein conveniently accessible means, whereby the user may selectively cause the drum to rotate or hold the drum stationary.

In one of its aspects, the present invention contemplates a clothes dryer having incorporated therein air moving means directly associated with the rotatable drum, the air moving means comprising a relatively large fan assembly driven by the same driving mechanism which drives the drum and operable to cause the passage of an unusually large amount of air through the drum for effectively wiping the clothes contained therein thus efficiently removing moisture from the clothes.

Additional objects, features and advantages of the in vention disclosed herein will be apparent to persons skilled in the art after the construction and operation are understood from the within description.

It is preferred to accomplish the various objects of this invention and to practice the same in substantially the manner as hereinafter more fully described, and as more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the ii are 0.

, 2 accompanying drawings forming a part hereof and where in: I

I Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a clothes dryer embodying the present invention;

"Fig. 2 is a sectional view of Fig. 1 taken along the plane of the line 22 thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged top view of a gear segment actuating mechanism which is a part of the present invention;

Fig, 4 is an enlarged elevational view of the gear segment actuating mechanism;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view of a toggle joint used for lifting the rotary cylinder; and,

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the lines 6-6 of Fig. 5. r

The drawings are to be understood to be more or less of a schematic character for the purpose of illustrating and disclosing a typical or preferred form of the improvements contemplated herein, and in the drawings like reference characters identify the same parts in the several views. 7

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention depicted in the drawings, the dryer contemplated by this invention comprises, in general, a cabinet A as shown in Fig.

1; a'clothes drum B disposed within the cabinet A and rotatable on a substantially horizontal axis and effective to tumble the fabrics disposed therein, the drum B is mounted for pivotal movement by means of a universal joint 9,, said joint being fully disclosed in said patent; an

air moving fan assembly C axially disposed with respect to thegdrum B and effective to cause a relatively large volume of air to pass through said drum B for contact with the fabrics disposed therein for absorption of moisture whereupon said moisture is conveyed outwardly and away from the machine with said air; a driving mechanism D effective to cause rotation of said drum B and said air moving fan assembly C; a static dry control B associated with said drum B and effective to control rotation or nonrotation of said drum responsive to manual operation of said static dry control means by the user as desired; an air heating assembly'F over and through which ambient air is drawn by said-air moving fan assembly C foreentry thereof into said drum B whereby said air will be more effective to absorb moisture in the fabrics contained in said drum B; a backguard G; air discharge ports H providing a vent system; a timer mechanism J adapted to regulate the operation of the dryer with respect to a selected drying time; and a knob K permitting selection by the user of either tumble drying or static drying.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2 there is shown a drum B rotatably mounted within a substantially imperforate, stationary casing member 10. The casing 10 has a front wall 11 and a rear wall 12. ,The drum B and fan assembly C are driven by an electric motor (not shown) through pulleys l3 and 14, and a belt 15. The pulley 14 drives a shaft 16 which has drivingly connected thereto a wheel 17. The front of the drum or cylinder B has a tire 18 which normally engages and rests upon the wheel 17. An idler and support wheel 20 is provided on the side opposite the drive wheel 17, said shaft being journalled in a support member 17'. Due to the particular construction of the pulleys 13 and 14, the belt 15, and the universal joint 9, the front end of the drum B can be lifted off the drive wheel 17 while the fan C continues rotating and the heater F remains energized providing static drying.

The drum B is adapted to be lifted off its drive roller 17 for static drying by means of the static dry control B. The control E comprises basically a toggle joint 21 which is actuated remotely by a gear segment operating mechanism 31. The toggle joint 21 comprises a short arm 22 pivotally connected to the support 17' by a bracket 23 and a long arm 24 which is adapted to engage the tire 18 of the drum B. The arm 22 is the lever support and the arm 24 is the lever of the toggle jomt. A

bracket 25 having inturned flanges 26 and 2 7 is attached.

The flange 26 has a slot 28 therein which slidably receives the end of the arm 24 of the toggle joint. A nylon shoe 29 covers the end of the arm 24 to provide a broad, smooth engagement of the arm 24 with the tire 18.

to the support 17'.

Mounted on the backguard G is a support bracket 32 for the gear segment actuating mechanism 31. R- tatably mounted on the support bracket 32 is a control shaft 33 which is rotated by the knob carries a pinion 34 which is in engagement with a gear segment 35. The gear segment 35 is pivotally mounted on an auxiliary support arm 36 which is fixedly secured to the bracket 32. A flexible cable housing 37 is clamped at one end by means of a screw 38 to the support arm 36 and extends to a clamp 40 on the flange 27 of the bracket 25. A flexible cable 41 is connected at one end to the gear segment 35 and at its other end to the pivot of the toggle joint 21. I

In operation, when it is desired to lift the drum B off its drive roller 17, the knob K is turned to move the pinion clockwise as seen in Fig. 4 to rotate the gear segment 35 and thereby pull the flexible cable 41 which straightens the toggle joint 21 to the position shown in Fig. and thereby lifts the cylinder or drum B oi the drive roller 17. e

While we have described our invention with certain specific embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that this is by way of illustration and not by way of limitation and the scope of our invention is defined solely by the appended claims which should be construed as broadly as the prior art will permit.

We claim:

1. A laundry machine comprising a cabinet, a back guard control panel extending upwardly above said cabinet, a cylinder rotatably mounted on a support in said cabinet and adapted for receiving fabrics to be tumbled therein, said cylinder having a front end and a rear end, the rear end of said cylinder being pivotally connected to said support, drive means supporting the front end of said cylinder for rotating the cylinder, means adapted for engaging with said cylinder for movement about its pivotal connection to said support to lift the cylinder 05 K. The shaft 33 the drive means so that said cylinder will remain stationary while said drive means continues to operate, said means comprising a toggle joint adjacent to said drive means and having one arm thereof mounted on said support and the other arm thereof adapted to engage said cylinder, control means mounted on said panel and extending about said cylinder for actuating said toggle joint to lift the cylinder off the drive means.

2. A laundry machine comprising a cabinet, a back guard control panel extending upwardly above said cabinet, a cylinder rotatably mounted on a support in said cabinet and adapted for receiving fabrics to be tumbled therein, said cylinder having a front end and a rear end, the rear end of said cylinder being pivotally connected to said support, drive means supporting the front end of said cylinder for rotating the cylinder, means adapted for engaging with said cylinder for movement about its pivotal connection to said support to lift the cylinder off the drive means so that said cylinder will remain stationary while said drive means continues to operate, said means comprising a toggle joint adjacent said drive means and having one arm thereof mounted on said support and the other arm thereof adapted to engage said cylinder, control means for actuating said toggle joint including an actuating mechanism mounted on said panel and a flexible cable connected between said actuating mechanism and said toggle joint whereby upon operation of said actuating mechanism said cable will actuate said toggle joint to lift the cylinder off the drive means.

3. In a laundry machine as defined in claim 2 wherein the actuating mechanism comprises a gear segment pivoted on said panel and having said cable fixed to one end thereof, and a gear rotatably mounted in said panel having teeth meshing with the teeth on the said gear segment for effecting rotation thereof for operating said cable, said gear being rotated by a knob connected thereto and disposed outwardly of said panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 414,655 Great Britain Aug. 7, 1934 

